After doing a few lvl 45 dungeons and below as a 'healer' (first as an Oracle (arch/aura/vit) to lvl 40, then soulsong (arch/song/vit) from 40 up), I have realized that it takes more than the healer to heal.

What I mean by this --- is everyone must be aware of their health bar. The basic heal has a significant cast time and 4sec CD. The other AoE heals have 20+ sec CDs with small radii

When I did the first lvl 45 dungeon, the main reason for failed attempts was because of the spike damage or everyone taking damage at the same time. I had to go through 3-5 foods (1 second use time) and 3+ pots ...and would still be OOM.

Granted, I am in lvl 35 gear with an ok club....which could have been the reason.

Healing in Archeage is hard! I've mained a healer in every MMO I've played and AA is the first time I have opted not to. The mechanics leave something to be desired as well as the itemization and availability of gear. As you mentioned, it's also incredibly expensive when it comes to consumeables I was thinking about picking up cooking for this reason. Healing will only get easier as everybody learns the encounters and the rotations, combos are better coordinated. Self-sufficiency seems like a huge thing in the the pve encounters in this game so don't take it too hard that you aren't able to keep a group up yourself. Granted I haven't seen every fight these are just my initials impressions. If you ever want help with cooking mats let me know and I'll be glad to help out.

I have been getting my cooking skill up - I try always have 100+ on hand. I make sure my 8x8 farm does my personal resources (carrots, cotton, grains). I am almost to 5000 skill to get the 3rd tier (involves tomatoes).